Texas style smoker grills that burn solid particulate fuels such as wood products (e.g., pellets, chips, etc.), are very popular due to the ability to use wood products that impart different fragrances and tastes to food. These stoves typically have a hopper or holding bin for a pellet supply or feed system that transports the pellets from the hopper to the fire chamber to be burned. Some examples of feed systems include reciprocal pushers utilizing a pusher block or flat plates welded together, rotating cups and/or augers to move the fuel. To date, it is known that wood pellets come in at least 8 types, namely, Alder, Hickory, Cherry, Oak, Apple, Pecan, Maple, and Mesquite. Each type is matched to types of foods being grilled or smoked.
While it is highly desirable to be able to easily change pellet types depending on the cook's preference for different recipes, no easy method is available with known grills. Some cooks will even cook the same dish with two different pellet types introduced at different times during the cooking process. Currently, the removal of the pellets must be done by arduously “scooping-out” any pellets left in the smoker grill main hopper in order to change out the varies types of pellets.
Although no insert systems are known to be available, smoker grills have been described in various publications. For example, US Publication US 20080085172 A1, having Publication date Apr. 10, 2008 for a “Feed system for solid particulate fuel burning stove,” describes a fuel feed system for conveying particulate fuel from a hopper 30 to a firebox in a stove is provided.
In another device described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,737 B1, issued May 1, 2001 titled “Pellet fuel burning device,” a pellet fuel burner, such as a cooking grill, has a fire box with a generally open top plane is described. A pellet burner unit is disposed in the fire box below the cooking surface. A pellet feeding device opens into the fire box and is disposed so as to feed pellets into the burner unit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,810 A issued Feb. 15, 1994 for a “Scuttle for pouring pelletized wood fuel,” a scuttle device for pouring frangible, extruded wood pellets through a slot-like fill port of a hopper of a pellet-burning stove is described. The device has a wall formed to provide a pellet containment cavity, and a top cap formed with an opening for filling and emptying the cavity, wherein a fine mesh sieve is supported in the cavity and is spaced from substantially the entire inner surface of the wall to provide a collection space for receiving and retaining pellet fines, and wherein a top rim of the sieve lies closely adjacent the underside of the top cap for preventing spill-over of pellets into the collection space during pouring out of the pellets.
Unfortunately, no smoker grills or accessories are known to have solved the problem posed by having to remove by hand, individual wood pellets from the pellet hoppers of smoker grills in order change wood types for imparting different flavor characteristics to food being grilled or smoked. The present invention provides solutions for these drawbacks inherent in previous devices by providing a dual-use sealable storage container for wood pellets used in the burning process of smoker grills.